Call for Papers: International Workshop on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM2004)

Extended Abstract submission deadline: 15 December 2003

Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 10, 2003 -- On May 3-4, 2004, Tilburg University and the Belgian nuclear research center SCK-CEN co-organize the First International Workshop on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management ISCRAM2004.

When responding to a major crisis, such as the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident, the BSE meat scare, the Prestige oil spill or the SARS virus spreading, the response to the crisis usually leaves the jurisdiction of the affected organization and evolves to be the concern of local, regional, national or international agencies and authorities, depending on the scope and nature of the emergency.

In response to such crises, teams are formed with people from many different organizations and agencies which cross local or national boundaries. These teams are typically interdisciplinary in nature, composed of topical experts, operational forces and people carrying political responsibilities. Even in the case of smaller crises, such as workplace accidents or the loss of a key corporate customer, special teams or committees are established across organizational units to work together to resolve the crisis situation.

The training, dynamic formation and coordination of the emerging intra- or inter-organizational crisis response community are key functionalities for information systems that support crisis response and management activities.

We intend to bring together designers, developers and users of Information Systems that support those involved in crisis-related activities such as:

• Planning for the response to a crisis situation;
• Training for crisis, including organizing of crisis exercises;
• Responding to a crisis situation; and
• Evaluating the performance during and after the crisis.

We welcome the active participation of policy makers involved in crisis response and management at the local, regional, national or international level.

We solicit papers that deal with the design, development, deployment, operation, or evaluation of information systems for crisis planning, response and management. Authors should focus on the tools, functionality, and/or interfaces that are or should be provided to human users involved with crisis response and management.

Important deadline: a two-page extended abstract must be submitted by December 15, 2003. Please contact the Workshop chairs Bartel Van de Walle or Benny Carle if you have any questions or concerns about the appropriateness of a paper you would like to submit.

The language of the workshop is English. Extended abstracts must be two pages (including references), single column, single-spaced, main text font size 11, A4 paper size. Abstracts must be submitted in MS Word or PDF format by email to either of the Workshop’s chairs Bartel Van de Walle (bartel@uvt.nl) and Benny Carlé (bcarle@sckcen.be) by December 15th 2003. If there are any concerns or questions about the appropriateness of a paper please contact the chairs of the Workshop as soon as possible.

For more information check http://www.tilburguniversity.nl/faculties/few/iscram2004/